Existing surgical devices for grasping and removing foreign objects from body organs or cavities include mechanically actuated forceps, mechanically actuated snares or mechanically actuated baskets. Each of these surgical devices may be positioned within the body under endoscopic, fluoroscopic or direct visualization.
Mechanically actuated snares include an assembly of a flexible web member mounted on a loop of wire enclosed within a sheath. The loop of wire can be extended beyond the sheath to automatically expand into a shaped opening and, as a result, also open the attached/mounted web member into a capture pocket. The size of the opening is controlled by the length of wire advanced beyond the end of the sheath. In use, after the snare is positioned adjacent an object, the wire is advanced beyond the end of the sheath until a loop larger than the object is formed. The loop is then positioned until the web member and a plane of the loop encompass the object. The sheath is then advanced and the wire refracted so that the loop and the web member close around and ensnare/trap the object.
The web member is typically attached to the loop of wire through weaving and/or by using clips or ringlets along a circumference of the loop of wire. When the loop is withdrawn into the sheath, to close the loop around an object, the strands of material connecting the web member to the loop and in some instances the material comprising the web member may slide along the loop and became concentrated at a distal end of the loop. The web material may also bunch together and become interposed between the object and the distal end of the loop. Similarly, the presence of clips or ringlets by which the web member is joined to the loop may also interfere with and make more difficult and time consuming the capturing of the object.
There is thus a need in the art for an improved method of attaching or connecting a web member, mesh or net to a loop member of a surgical snare device, such that it does not interfere with the procedure.